Won't you Please Please Help Me?
by dormientemdraco
Summary: Astoria Greengrass is a Trainee Healer at St. Mungo's. It's a slow day in 2004 when a screaming blond man is brought in by the mediwizards. He's been hit with an unknown curse causing him unbearable pain in his leg and Astoria has to deal with her first patient: Draco Malfoy. Written for the Beatles-Song Challenge on the HPFC forum. Rated M for language and... violence I guess?


**Author's Note: **Hellooo everyone, I hope you enjoy this new fic I'm working on for the _Beatles-Song Challenge _on the HPFC forum. This is the first challenge fic I've ever written so I hope I'm doing this right! My song for the challenge was Help! by the Beatles.

I'm not a doctor or a nurse so I have basically no knowledge of medicine, all that I know I've learned from taking a Medical Terminology class (and from the tv show House MD haha). Everything "medical" is more or less made up and this is supposed to be the "wizard way" of dealing with medicine so it's not going to be the same as the Muggle way.

Uhg, I hope this isn't too terrible! There will probably be 5 chapters total, 7 at the most and I expect they'll be around this length, I hope you don't mind :) Please review if you like it or at least don't hate it, constructive criticism is much appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter :(

**The Accident**

It was a slow day in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. While usually hustling and bustling with activity, this snowy winter afternoon in February 2004 was moving sluggishly along. Once every half hour, a wizard or witch arrived through the gateway window of what appeared to be Purge and Dowse Ltd., and the receptionist would point the patient in the right direction. The janitor, a squib who during the winter season spent an extraordinary amount of time mopping the floors of the ground level due to melted snow, was taking a little snooze in the broom closet where no one would yell at him. The receptionist was filing her nails while reading a Witch Weekly magazine, taking quick glances around every now and then to make sure she wasn't caught slacking on her duties.

In the Artefact Accidents Ward, a single patient lay in bed, resting after a nasty cauldron explosion. The Healer in Charge, Octavius Pilgrim, told the Trainee Healers that the patient's stats were normal and that he would be discharged the following day. It was then that Trainee Healer Astoria Greengrass left the Artefact Accidents Ward and made her way to the break room alone.

But she didn't make it to the break room.

"Healer! Healer!" two mediwizards came bustling through the magical gateway with a stretcher in front of them. One mediwizard was calling for a healer and controlling the stretcher while the other was doing basic diagnostic spells amidst the screams of pain the patient was emitting.

Astoria glanced around to look for the Healer in Charge. _Damn! Where is everyone? _She thought as she bit her bottom lip. The screams started to get louder as the mediwizards came closer. It was only her second month of training and Astoria didn't know if she should look for a Healer or attend to the patient.

She could get in trouble if she was found tending to the patient without a licensed Healer by her side. _Remember what they taught you at St. Mungo's Training Hospital,_ she thought to herself, _patient safety first._ Nodding to herself she hurried over to the mediwizards.

"All right Rick, what's going on?" Astoria forced herself to sound confident as she addressed the mediwizard checking the patient.

"Looks like a curse, and a bad one, too." He said and then waved his wand again.

Astoria took a moment to look over the patient. The blond man was a ghostly white colour, soaked in sweat, and his eyes were squeezed shut with tears leaking from the corners as he hollered. He had a hand to his bare right thigh where the mediwizard had rolled up the trouser leg and was currently casting diagnostic spells. There were no cuts, no bruises, no blood - the curse didn't leave any sign of injury.

_What do I do now?_ She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her and she wracked her brain to remember what came next. They were moving to the emergency ward located behind the reception area.

"Can you tell me your name?" Astoria suddenly asked the man.

A look of confusion crossed the man's grey eyes and Astoria was suddenly hit with a sense of familiarity. The moment vanished as quickly as it came and the blond began moaning again.

"Your name, sir?" She said more forcefully.

But he only continued to cry in pain.

"Someone get me a pain reliever potion here!" She shouted as they passed two Trainee Healers.

Looking back at the patient she asked, "Sir, can you remember what curse hit you?"

"What's going on here?" Astoria winced as she heard the growling voice of the Dean of Medicine and Chief Hospital Administrator, Diane Wilder. It was at that moment that Astoria knew she was in trouble. Trainee Healers were never supposed to attend to patients without the supervision of a fully trained Healer or the Healer in Charge.

"The patient was hit by a curse and is experiencing pain in his upper leg. We do not yet know the name of the curse or the name of the p-" a hand landed heavily on her shoulder, causing her to come to a complete halt.

Turning around she looked at the elderly woman. Healer Wilder was intimidatingly tall - six feet! - and had piercing blue eyes and a stern face that made her look like she was always cross. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun that made Astoria think of her Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor. The wide-framed witch had her arms crossed and tapped her black high heeled foot on the floor in impatience as she said, "Just what did you think you were doing, Ms. Greengrass?"

For a few seconds all Astoria could think about was what her parents were going to say when she told them she was sacked for helping a patient. Then she straightened her posture and said in a borderline impertinent tone, "I was helping the patient, Healer Wilder, as all the other Healers seemed to be too busy chatting about the next Quidditch Match."

Upon seeing Healer Wilder's eyes narrow Astoria nearly ran for the hills, but she knew that if she had done so she definitely would've been sacked. It was with dread that the Trainee Healer awaited her employer's response, and it did not make the situation any less nerve-wracking that she could hear the patient's cries down the hall.

She didn't know when the staring contest between her and Healer Wilder started, but right when she was about to break eye contact, the Healer's mouth twitched.

"Think you're ready to take on a patient without supervision, do you Greengrass?" She smirked. Astoria had never seen Healer Wilder smirk before. Had she gone to the break room after all and fallen asleep? Was she still asleep now? Astoria discreetly pinched herself. Nope, awake.

The smirk disappeared and a thoughtful look replaced it. "All right, Greengrass." She said at last. "Since you seem rather eager to leave my presence and I yours, I'll let you take on this patient yourself. Consider it a test."

Astoria stared at the woman in disbelief. Healer Wilder scowled.

"Well? What're you waiting for? Get going before I change my mind."

At that, Astoria hurried off to find out where her patient went. She was confused about what just happened. She wasn't at all ready to have her own case. _What was Healer Wilder playing at?_ She thought. Astoria suddenly stopped. What if the Dean was expecting her to fail, and that's why she was given the case?

_No,_ Astoria thought as she continued down the hall. _A Healer would not put a patient's life in danger._ Healer Wilder wouldn't give Astoria the case if she didn't think her capable of figuring it out.

Right?

Walking into the room, Astoria found the same two mediwizards hovered around the blond man. The screaming had stopped - that meant that someone had finally given the patient his pain reliever potion.

"There you are," the mediwizard said at Astoria's arrival. "Mr. Malfoy has been given arterioplasto and venoplasto potions as well as a pain reliever potion."

"It doesn't bloody help," the blond said, his voice wavering.

Astoria frowned. Malfoy? Draco Malfoy? Memories long forgotten popped into her head. Sneaking glances at the blond boy as he walked through the castle corridors and giggling. Accidentally bumping into him just to get his attention…

"What doesn't help?" She asked as she stepped closer to the patient's bed. Upon closer inspection she saw that he was still sickly pale. Sweat was beading on his forehead. He was dehydrated. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the mediwizards leave the room.

"The pain reliever potion you supposedly gave me," he scowled. "I still feel pain." He grimaced to illustrate his point.

"Are you only feeling pain in your leg, Mr. Malfoy?" Astoria asked, looking at the blond.

Draco rolled his eyes, his teeth gritted. "I figured that was obvious by the fact that I was screaming 'my leg hurts' while holding said leg."

Astoria ignored that little comment. "Do you know what curse was cast on you, Mr. Malfoy?"

He stared at her for a moment before frowning slightly and saying, "You're a little young to be a Healer aren't you?"

Sighing mentally, Astoria remembered who she was dealing with. Draco Malfoy, the boy who was considered Slytherin's Prince throughout his years at Hogwarts. A spoiled brat who always got what he wanted and bullied whomever he wanted. Or at least, that's what she remembered.

"Do you know the name of the curse, Mr. Malfoy?" She asked again, trying her best to be as patient as possible.

"Of course I do. I'm not telling you because I love pain. Bloody brilliant, it is."

This time Astoria did sigh.

"If we don't know the name of the curse, then we can't help you Mr. Malfoy." She walked over to the counter where she saw the chart that the mediwizards had left. Why didn't they hand it to her before leaving the room? She bit back another sigh and glanced over it.

"If I knew the name of the curse I would've told you, woman."

**Patient emitted with a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. Upper right thigh, where patient complains of pain, shows no sign of injury. No damage to any tissue, muscle, bone, or blood vessels in the upper right thigh. He was given aterioplasto and venoplasto potions to repair any arteries or veins that may have been damaged. He was also given pain reliever potion and fever reducing potion. Patient claims it was a nonverbal spell that hit him. **

"So it was a nonverbal spell." Astoria said aloud.

"Clearly." Draco sneered. "And can I get something for the pain sometime today?"

"We have already given you the most pain reliever potion you can get for the time being, Mr. Malfoy." Astoria said, putting down the chart and walking over to the blond's bed. His mouth was in a tight line and his eyes darted from his leg to her and then back to his leg. "I'm just going to take a little look at your leg and see if there are any side effects of the curse other than pain."

Astoria saw a bruise on his thigh, right above the knee, and asked, "Was this bruise here before?"

Draco squinted and then shook his head, "No I don't think so."

_That could've been the point of impact where the spell hit him, then_ Astoria thought_. According to the chart there's no damage, but could the spell be affecting the blood cells? _

"We're going to need to draw some blood to do some tests, Mr. Malfoy." She said after looking over his leg once more.

"Draw blood?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes. We need to make sure the spell didn't do any damage to the blood cells. We also will be checking your blood cell count and testing the clotting ability of your blood." Upon seeing his frown she said, "The mediwizards didn't find any sign of damage, but I'm just going to make sure."

"Is that really necessary?" He grimaced and Astoria noticed him gripping his leg tightly.

"If it wasn't, I wouldn't be wasting my time doing it." She went through the cupboards until she found a syringe and vials. Holding them in her hand and walking over to Draco, who's eyes widened at the sight of the syringe, she laughed to herself at the misconception that because witches and wizards knew magic they could fix absolutely everything just with the aid of a wand. Astoria drew three small vials of blood from Draco's arm and when she finished she waved her wand at his arm and the bleeding stopped.

"All right, Mr. Malfoy, I'm going to do the blood tests-"

"When can I get another pain reliever potion?" Draco interrupted loudly and then whined. His hand was gripping his leg so tightly that his knuckles were white. _Is the pain back so soon?_ Astoria wondered.

"It'll be three hours until you can get another pain reliever potion, Mr. Malfoy."

"THREE FUCKING HOURS?"

Astoria was beginning to get annoyed with the blond. "I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, but I can't-"

"YOU'RE A TERRIBLE BLOODY HEALER," he shouted, his grey eyes flashing in anger. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his cheeks were flushed. "YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME HERE, IN PAIN, WHILE YOU GO OFF MERLIN KNOWS WHERE TO DO SOME BLOODY MUGGLE TESTS? WHAT KIND OF A INCOMPETENT WITCH ARE YOU?"

_Breathe in, breathe out. Deep breaths. Don't lose your cool. _Astoria bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything. _He's in pain, that's why he's being rude. _"We're going to try our best to find the solution as quickly as possible, Mr. Malfoy."

Before she could hear Draco's retort, Astoria stalked out of the room. Shutting the door she could hear the blond shouting obscenities in between whimpers. Frowning, Astoria walked over to the healer's station where she saw one of the office worker's organizing the filing cabinet. A few mediwizards were hanging around, chatting amiably.

"Hey Rick," she said to the brown haired mediwizard. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Mr. Malfoy in room 34H while I go run some tests?"

He nodded, smiling. "Sure, I don't mind at all."

"Thanks, Rick." She smiled.

_Next stop, the labs! _Astoria headed down the recently polished stone floor, her black heels clacking with every step she took as she made her way to the door at the end of the hall. The lime green door had the words "LABORATORY: HEALERS AND POTIONEERS ONLY" in big black letters. Turning the brass doorknob, Astoria entered the room.

The potions lab was one of Astoria's favorite rooms in the whole hospital. Potions had always been her favorite class at Hogwarts; had she not decided to be a Healer, she would have become a Potioneer. A girl with straggly dirty blonde hair and thick black glasses was standing over a cauldron, her wand in the air. Upon hearing the door close with a loud slam, she jumped slightly. When she realized it was only Astoria she let out a breath of relief.

"Oh, it's just you." Phoebe the Potioneer was a regular in the lab. In fact, ever since Astoria became an official Trainee Healer at the hospital and started working, there was never a time when she entered the lab and _didn't_ see Phoebe.

"Morning, Phoebe." Astoria said as she made her way to the work station across from the blonde and placed down the blood samples. There were several long, black tables in the room. Each one had a top of the line cauldron in bronze, steel, silver, gold and iron. Lining the blue walls were glass shelves that reached all the way up to the high ceiling. Jars upon jars of potions ingredients sat on the shelves in an impeccably organized fashion.

"Did you draw the short straw in Healer Pilgrim's class again?" Phoebe asked as she stirred her potion, which Astoria noticed was a bright glowing magenta colour.

"Actually no, there was no straw drawing at all. Healer Pilgrim's patient is recuperating fine." Astoria said as she grabbed the steel cauldron and placed it in front of her.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, "Then who is the potion for, if I may ask?"

"Potion's for me, I'm running some tests." Astoria frowned as she opened the cabinet underneath the table, searching for her tools. With an "aha!" she placed a steel stirring spoon, teaspoons, tablespoons, and bronze scale around her cauldron.

"I thought you said the patient was recuperating." Phoebe placed a dash of something that looked like powdered unicorn horn into her cauldron and a flowery smell filled the air.

"He is." Astoria bit her lip to keep from smiling too broadly. "It's for my patient." As she lifted her wand from the table she heard a _clink_ and the sound of something rolling across a smooth surface.

"AH!" Phoebe leaned onto the table to grab the rolling jar of powdered unicorn horns before it fell off and smashed all over the white stone floor. "_Your_ patient?!" Phoebe said in incredulity.

The Trainee Healer in question hustled over to the shelves to grab the necessary potion ingredients so she could run her tests. She heard Phoebe's voice carry across the room as she flicked her wand and wordlessly levitated a jar of pickled squirrel eyes.

"HEALER PILGRIM LET YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PATIENT? BUT WH- OH SHIT!" The sound of sudden quick stirring made Astoria's lip curl. Trust Phoebe to be distracted by gossip.

"It wasn't Healer Pilgrim, actually!" Astoria called across the lab. _Where are the grounded Mirander roots…_ Checking the label on a jar of roots she smiled, satisfied, and then said "It was Healer Wilder."

Astoria was sure she'd never seen Phoebe's jaw drop so low.

"Healer Wilder? But she- are you- how did you- wha- oh bugger," Astoria smirked to herself as she set her ingredients down at her station and began measuring out a spoonful of roots.

The potions used to do blood tests were simple enough to make, although it took a while for them to brew. Potioneers had more important healing potions to make that took more time and concentration, so Healers were stuck with brewing their own blood test potions. She would be making three relatively similar potions to test the blood cell count, another to test the clotting ability of the patient's blood, and one more to check for high amounts of residual magic in the blood.

All witches and wizards have traces of foreign residual magic - the remains of a spell cast on you by someone else. Curses usually leave high amounts of residual magic, which if left alone over time wrecks havoc on the body. _If there ARE high amounts of residual magic…_ Astoria sighed and rubbed her temple, not even wanting to think about it.

"Do you need help making the testing potions, Astoria?" Phoebe asked as she poured the contents of her cauldron into a jar the size of a tea cup. "I'm just about finished here and I don't have any more potions to brew for the day."

"Would you?" Astoria looked up from her potion ingredients hopefully.

"Of course, I'd be happy to help." The dirty blonde witch smiled.

A few hours of potion making later, Astoria's station was a mess - but everything was prepared. Now all Astoria had to do was add a sample of blood to each potion and record the results. Phoebe waved her wand and sent all the unneeded potions ingredients back to their spots on the shelf.

"Looks like my work here is done," she smiled at Astoria. "I'm going home. See you tomorrow!"

"Thanks again, Phoebe." Astoria waved goodbye to the witch. "All right," she said to herself, "Let's get down to business."

In front of her were five beakers of potions, each one a different colour and for a different purpose. Next to the beakers were strips of parchment about the size of a stick of gum. Grabbing the first vial of blood, she emptied it out into a beaker filled with a translucent purple potion. Astoria checked the magical clock above the door. _All right, I'll come back to this one in fifteen minutes and see how well Dra- er, Mr. Malfoy's blood is clotting_.

Pushing the purple potion to the side, she slid over three smaller beakers of potions. _Now to test blood cell count…_ Taking another vial she poured an equal measurement of blood into beakers of grey, red and green potions. _These react quickly, thank Merlin._

As the three potions began changing colours, Astoria hastily looked through the cabinets under the table for parchment, a quill and ink. _I should've done this before starting… Healer Pilgrim would've yelled at me if he were here. _She slammed the parchment down on the table, along with the quill and ink, and looked at the three potions.

Taking a strip of parchment she dipped it into the light red potion and pulled it out. Slowly Astoria watched as a number 3 appeared on the strip in black ink. She scribbled the number onto her parchment and repeated the test on two new strips of parchment; in the second and third tests she got a 4. The system worked on a scale of 1 to 10, making 3 and 4 on the low end of the spectrum.

She did this with light grey potion and the yellow green potion. Like with the Red Blood Cell Count test, she did each test three times, took the average, and wrote her results down on her sheet of parchment.

**Red Blood Cell Count**

**Light red colour**

**3.67  
**

**RBC slightly lower than normal**

**White Blood Cell Count **

**Light gray colour**

**7.33  
**

**WBC a bit higher than normal**

**Platelet Count**

**Yellow green colour**

**3.67**

**PC lower than normal**

She stared down at the parchment and contemplated the results for a few minutes before nodding to herself and reaching for the coal black coloured potion. _I hope for that git's sake that this potion doesn't turn bright green_, Astoria thought as she emptied the last vial of blood into the beaker. _And now I wait._

While she waited, Astoria thought about Hogwarts. It was four years ago that she graduated from the school. The next three years she spent taking classes at St. Mungo's Teaching Hospital. In the beginning of 2004 she began her internship at St. Mungo's, much to her immense joy. In June she would be graduating from Healer School and get her diploma. _Only five more months now,_ she smiled at the thought.

Looking at the clock, she checked the blood clotting test potion. The once purple translucent potion was now more red-purple. "Hmm," Astoria tested the potion thrice with purple strips of parchment and wrote down her results on the same sheet of parchment.

**Clotting Factor**

**Red purple colour**

**3**

**Clotting slightly lower than normal**

As Astoria placed the quill back in the ink bottle she heard a slight hissing. It was the test for residual magic. She inhaled sharply as she looked at the beaker.

"Oh boy."

Parchment in one hand and wand in the other, Astoria stalked out of the lab and went over to the healer's station where she saw two Healers, three Trainee Healers and a mediwizard huddled together laughing and having a good time. Frowning slightly she looked around for Rick. He was nowhere in sight.

"He better bloody be checking on the patient," she muttered under her breath as she made her way to room 34H. Her stomach growled as she knocked on the door twice before entering.

"Hello again Mr. Malfoy," she put on her best face.

"You again?" he croaked. "I want another Healer."

Astoria ignored the comments and walked over to his bedside. He was completely drenched in sweat and it seemed that he hadn't let go of his leg the whole time she had been gone. His bottom lip was bleeding profusely from biting it. _Merlin, the pain must be worst than I thought._ She started to feel a bit panicky - hadn't the mediwizard checked up on him? Looking at his left hand she gasped.

"What happened to your hand?" She said as she gently lifted it up, inspecting the bruised skin of his swollen, deformed fingers.

He let out a weak laugh. "I needed a distraction from the pain in my leg," he swallowed with some difficulty.

Astoria couldn't believe it. He harmed himself just to keep him from thinking about the pain in his leg? She took out her wand and was about to fix the broken bones when his right hand slapped the wand out of her hand. She watched in surprise as it fell to the floor.

"Don't," his said in a deepened voice.

"I can't just leave you with a broken hand, Mr. Malfoy!" She almost laughed at his request it was so bizarre. Draco Malfoy, the boy who nearly cried when her older sister slapped him, the guy who wouldn't stop whining and whimpering after the Hippogriff supposedly attacked him was pleading that she not heal him? He was begging for her to give him pain reliever potions only a few hours ago!

"I'm sorry, but I _have_ to fix it." Astoria heard his breaths increase in frequency. _Accio wand!_ The moment she felt the cool, cherry wood in her hand she immediately cast a spell to fix Draco's broken fingers.

"No, no, NO." It seemed that the moment his bones were healed he began shouting in pain. His right hand reattached itself to his leg, which Astoria quickly checked for signs of damage. As she raised up his hospital gown a sinking feeling grew in her stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. The small bruise that she'd seen before had extended to cover half of his upper thigh. Draco's screams went up an octave as she gently pressed the muscle.

"DON'T FUCKING DO THAT, YOU BINT." Astoria felt spittle hit her face and she wiped it off, scowling.

"Look, _Mr. Malfoy_, I can't help you if you don't cooperate with me. Please tell me, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt, how much pain are you in?"

"A 9."

"Nine?"

He nodded stiffly, his teeth biting his lip again. _He broke the scab open,_ she thought while looking at the thin river of blood rolling down his mouth and chin. Waving her wand she conjured a non-toxic rubber chew toy normally for Krups and stuck it in his mouth. _If anything, it'll muffle his screams_, she thought dryly.

"That's so you stop biting yourself," she said unnecessarily and then healed the cut lower lip. _Tergeo! _She thought and the blood was cleaned up from his face.

"I'll go get that pain reliever potion for you, Mr. Malfoy."

Feeling exhausted, Astoria left the room and went back to the healer's station where she saw Rick sitting in a rather comfortable looking chair. Her mood took a nosedive as she saw Rick reading an issue of the Daily Prophet. Her jaw tightened as she stomped over to him. Unable to control herself, she snatched the newspaper from his hands.

"Hey!" Upon seeing Astoria Rick frowned in confusion. "What're you playin at, Ast-"

"You didn't check up on my patient, Rick!" She scowled, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "Did you know he was in so much pain that he bit his lip until it bled and purposely broke his hand just to get relief? Do you understand how _bad_ that-"

"Don't go yelling at me because _your_ patient has been self-harming while you were gone. He's YOUR responsibility, not mine!" Before Astoria could retort, Rick stood up and took off in the direction of the receptionist area.

Not noticing the audience of Trainee Healers and mediwizards, Astoria crumpled up the issue of the Daily Prophet and threw it on the ground. Looking up she saw everyone in the healer's station looking at her.

"What?" She demanded, her eyes flashing.

They turned away and made conversation amongst themselves as Astoria stalked off to get a pain reliever potion for Draco. _I can't believe- the bloody nerve- who does that bastard think he is, bloody Harry Potter or something?_ Astoria pulled open a cabinet drawer violently, making it shake and successfully toppling over three files onto her head. "Bloody fuckin hell," she scowled. Whipping out her wand she haphazardly sent the files onto their way back on top of the cabinet before grabbing the potion she needed and slamming the drawer.

_All I asked was that he check up on the bloody patient - the literally bloody patient - but does he do it? NO. He's busy reading up on the latest adventures of Hermione bloody Granger. _Back at 34H, she knocked once before entering the room.

Walking over to Draco's bedside she felt the anger slowly ebb away to tiredness. Repressing a sigh she handed the soothing blue potion over to the blond. "Drink all of this, Mr. Malfoy."

He took the rubber toy out of his mouth, shakily took the potion and quickly gulped it down. The effect was almost instantaneous. Draco visibly calmed and some colour returned to his face. He was still grimacing, but was no longer screaming.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you in now?" Astoria asked as she took the empty potion bottle from him.

"A 5 I think." He shifted his body so that he sat more upright in his bed. Using the sleeve of the light blue hospital gown he wiped his sweaty forehead and grimaced. "Do I get a bath or food or anything?" He raised a blond eyebrow at her.

"You haven't eaten yet?" Astoria frowned as she moved to his other side to check his thigh again.

Draco rolled his eyes but Astoria didn't see it. "I would've eaten that Krup chew toy you oh so lovingly placed inside my mouth, but I hate unsalted rubber."

Astoria pressed on the thigh muscle that wasn't bruised and Draco hissed. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'll get someone to send you down some food if you feel up to it. Do you feel any nausea?"

"No," he grunted as she pressed a little harder on his leg.

"I think I have an idea of what curse this was," she thought aloud. "Mr. Malfoy, do you remember what colour the spell was and the wand movement your attacker made?"

He looked into space thoughtfully before saying, "It was purple, I'm pretty sure. And the wand movement was kind of… loopy," He made an exaggerated looping movement with his left hand.

Frowning, Astoria repeated the movement, "Like this?"

Draco nodded, grimacing and clutching his leg.

It was like a light bulb went off in Astoria's brain. Purple curse, intricate looping wand movement… Her eyes widened. "I'll send you up some food right now, Mr. Malfoy, I'm going to, uh, go." she said all in one breath as she headed towards the door. She knew what the curse was, she was ninety-nine percent positive. But to make sure, she had to consult the Medical Library on the second floor.

The one percent of her that was doubtful hoped she was wrong about the curse.

* * *

**Soooo that's chapter one! Please tell me what you like the most about it so far and if you enjoyed it (it's seriously okay if you didn't, you can tell me) Happy holidays everyone! :) -dormientemdraco**


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